Civil Rights

DRC works to stop disability discrimination and stigma.  We bring cases that make sure people can participate in society and be empowered. For more information about our work, please read on.

DRC’s Civil Rights Practice Group specializes in disability discrimination law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Amendments Act.  Our goal is to stop discrimination, eliminate stigma, and protect civil rights.  We recognize that social integration and empowerment for people with disabilities is the ultimate solution to the discrimination issues we address, and focus on cases that make these solutions attainable.

DRC’s Civil Rights Practice Group litigates complex disability discrimination cases that have a broad impact on the community and advocates for systemic change to eliminate disability discrimination.  We train, mentor, and collaborate with other advocates and community based organizations on disability discrimination law so that we can maximize the impact of our expertise.

Cases
Sep 20, 2016

Guerra v. West LA College

DRC and co-counsel go to trial over West LA College’s Failure to Accommodate the Needs of Students with Disabilities

DRC filed a lawsuit in federal district court, alleging violations of state and federal anti-discrimination laws that require public entities to provide people with disabilities meaningful access to their programs and services, against West Los Angeles College (WLAC) on behalf of plaintiff students with mobility disabilities, Charles Guerra, Chrystal, and Karlton Bontrager.

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Cases
Dec 7, 2017

Juarez/Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Structured Negotiations Settlement

LASD will make its webpages, including its inmate information center and visit scheduling system, accessible and inclusive to people with visual impairments

Alicia Juarez, who is blind, reached out to Disability Rights California for assistance in getting access to Los Angeles Sheriffs Department webpages to schedule visits and keep informed about her son in LASD’s jail facilities. Like many people with visual impairments, Ms. Juarez navigates the Internet using software that reads webpages aloud to her. The LASD webpages did not work with her screen reader, preventing her from independently being able to make appointments. DRC and co-counsel ,the Law Office of Lainey Feingold, engagedLASD in a Structured Negotiations Process to resolve LASD’s web access issues.

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